FAITH IN CHRIST LEADS TO REPENTANCE

Salvation is a free gift from God to all who will place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but that does not mean, as His children, we are free to sin without God's chastisement (Rom. 10:8-13; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 12:5-8; etc.).  When Jesus spoke to the woman taken in the act of adultery, He said she was to go and sin no more" (Jn. 8:11).  God wants everyone to turn to Him in faith (2 Pet. 3:9)!  Even during the horrible "Day of the Lord" (the Tribulation - Rev. 6 - 19), God wants the lost to repent, but many will not (Rev. 9:20-21; 16:9, 11)!  Throughout the New Testament, the Gospel message is "believe and turn to God!"  Here are a few examples:

*  Matthew 3:1-2 - "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
*  Matthew 4:17 - "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
*  Mark 6:7, 12 - "And (Jesus)  called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits....And they went out, and preached that men should repent."
*  Luke 16:30-31 - "And (the rich man in torment) said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.  And (Abraham) said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
*  Luke 24:45-47 - "Then (Jesus) opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
*  Acts 2:38 - "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
*  Acts 11:18 - "When (the Jewish believers) heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."
*  Acts 20:20-21 - "And how I (the Apostle Paul) kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
*  2 Corinthians 7:10 - Paul wrote:  "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:  but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
*  Hebrews 6:1 - The writer of Hebrews wrote:  "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God...."
*  2 Peter 3:9 - Peter wrote:  "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

 

SALVATION IS FREE, BUT BEING A DISCIPLE WILL COST YOU!